A brush is a tool defining a work surface (such as bristles and filaments) that may be used in any of a plurality of activities such as cleaning, grooming, and painting. Most brushes are basic in design and the average household may contain several dozen varieties. Prior art brushes generally consist of a block (body) associated with filaments or bristles. Both the block and bristles/filaments are constructed from materials that have properties suitable for the anticipated environmental factors in which such brush will be used.
When it comes to cleaning vehicles, there are a multitude of prior art brushes available to perform various cleaning tasks. One area in particular where brushes are used relates to the cleaning of wheels. For the purposes of this document, a wheel is composed of a tire, rim, lug nuts, and perhaps a hubcap or other similar accessory. As is well known, an automobile tire (usually consisting of rubber) is mechanically associated with the outer diameter of a rim so that the combination defines an airtight association (although wheels sometimes comprise solid tires and other configuration no requiring an airtight association). Such rim is mechanically associated with a vehicle using a plurality of lug nuts which typically are inserted into lug nut recesses. For some configurations, a portion of the rim and/or lug nuts may be covered by a hub cap or other similar wheel accessory. Consequently, automobile wheels, for example, present a plurality of surfaces, surface depths, and material types that will require cleaning. To complicate the matter further, tires generally require more rigorous cleaning and scrubbing than do rims or hubcaps. Thus, some areas of a wheel will require a brush to provide more “power” while other areas of a wheel will require a softer brush with perhaps more “reach”.
Due to the above, car tire and wheel cleaning can be one of the more arduous tasks in cleaning a vehicle and typically require the use of numerous prior art brushes. For example, a brush type comprising stiffer bristles might be needed for tire scrubbing while yet another brush type with softer bristles might be needed for rim cleaning. Using various numbers and types of brushes is expensive and inconvenient to maintain, keep track of and store.
Another challenge for a wheel cleaning brush relates to its shape and whether or not a brush cleaning surface can fit into the narrow and intricate recesses of the modern wheel configurations, especially for the more contemporary wheel designs. Further, lug recesses typically require relatively smaller brush designs. Thus, using prior art brushes, one will typically need to use a plurality of prior art brushes having different “reach” and “power” configurations as well as different bristle configurations when cleaning the various surfaces and components of vehicle wheels.
In this document, the Applicant discloses a configurable brush design comprising novel ornamental and utilitarian attributes that provide a plurality of bristles/filaments and handle configurations that, in turn, provide a plurality of abrasive properties as well as a plurality of “power” and “reach” configurations. Such a device can be used for a plurality of cleaning tasks (including cleaning components of motorcycles, trucks, water craft, airplanes and applications beyond motorized vehicles) and is particularly well suited for cleaning wheels comprising a tire, rim, lug nuts, and lug nut recesses, and other wheel accessories.